UBVRI photometry of Betelgeuse over 23 years since 1999

We report the results of our continuous UBVRI-band photometry of Betelgeuse from 1999 to 2022 using the same photometric system. There are two advantages in our observation: (1) we used a photodiode as a detector to avoid saturation, and (2) our data set includes U-band light curve, which is not widely observed in recent CCD photometries. Using our light curves, we conducted the periodicity analysis, and found ~405- and ~2160-day periods. We also discuss the tentative detection of a long-period variation over 20 years or longer. Finally, we discuss the peculiar variation of the U-B color index during the "Great Dimming" event between late 2019 and early 2020.Comment: 29 pages, 7 figures, 2 tables. Published in OEJV. Full tables available as table1.dat and table2.da

A Possible Spin-Orbit Misalignment in the Transiting Eccentric Planet HD 17156b

We present simultaneous photometric and spectroscopic observations of HD 17156b spanning a transit on UT 2007 November 12. This system is of special interest because of its 21-day period (unusually long for a transiting planet) and its high orbital eccentricity of 0.67. By modeling the Rossiter-McLaughlin effect, we find the angle between the sky projections of the orbital axis and the stellar rotation axis to be $62^{\circ} \pm 25^{\circ}$. Such a large spin-orbit misalignment, as well as the large eccentricity, could be explained as the relic of a previous gravitational interaction with other planets.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figures, 3 tables. Accepted for publication in PASJ Letters (Vol. 60, No. 2

Probiotics into outer space: feasibility assessments of encapsulated freeze-dried probiotics during 1 month’s storage on the International Space Station

Suppression of immune function during long spaceflights is an issue that needs to be overcome. The well-established probiotic Lactobacillus casei strain Shirota (LcS) could be a promising countermeasure, and we have launched a project to investigate the efficacy of its use on the International Space Station (ISS). As a first step, we developed a specialist probiotic product for space experiments, containing freeze-dried LcS in capsule form (Probiotics Package), and tested its stability through 1 month of storage on the ISS. The temperature inside the ISS ranged from 20.0 to 24.5 °C. The absorbed dose rate of the flight sample was 0.26 mGy/day and the dose equivalent rate was 0.52 mSv/day. The number of live LcS was 1.05 × 1011 colony-forming units/g powder (49.5% of the initial value) 6 months after the start of the study; this value was comparable to those in the two ground controls. Profiles of randomly amplified polymorphic DNA, sequence variant frequency, carbohydrate fermentation, reactivity to LcS-specific antibody, and the cytokine-inducing ability of LcS in the flight sample did not differ from those of the ground controls. We can therefore maintain the viability and basic probiotic properties of LcS stored as a Probiotics Package on the ISS

Expression of the oxygen-regulated protein ORP150 accelerates wound healing by modulating intracellular VEGF transport

金沢大学医薬保健研究域医学系Expression of angiogenic factors such as VEGF under conditions of hypoxia or other kinds of cell stress contributes to neovascularization during wound healing. The inducible endoplasmic reticulum chaperone oxygen-regulated protein 150 (ORP150) is expressed in human wounds along with VEGF. Colocalization of these two molecules was observed in macrophages in the neovasculature, suggesting a role of ORP150 in the promotion of angiogenesis. Local administration of ORP150 sense adenovirus to wounds of diabetic mice, a treatment that efficiently targeted this gene product to the macrophages of wound beds, increased VEGF antigen in wounds and accelerated repair and neovascularization. In cultured human macrophages, inhibition of ORP150 expression caused retention of VEGF antigen within the endoplasmic reticulum (ER), while overexpression of ORP150 promoted the secretion of VEGF into hypoxic culture supernatants. Taken together, these data suggest an important role for ORP150 in the setting of impaired wound repair and identify a key, inducible chaperone-like molecule in the ER. This novel facet of the angiogenic response may be amenable to therapeutic manipulation

農山村における相互依存関係とその変化

明治期から現在にかけて,農山村社会は大きく変化している。これまで,村落共同体に存在していた相互扶助や,家族がもっていた,生産,消費,生活保障,教育,娯楽,信仰,文化伝達といった機能は縮小し,その代替えとして,社会的諸制度が補完している。だが,高齢社会にあるいま,社会的諸制度だけでなく,地域と家族における共助・自助は,もっとも基本的支援体制であり,この基盤づくりが求められている。そのための前提として,本稿では,これまで農山村において,どのような相互依存関係があったのか,また,どのように変化したのか,その過程を明らかにしていく。From the Meiji era to the present, the farm village society has been changing a lot. Although the mutual aid custom existed in the local community and some family functions have substantially existed in it, now the functionmust be reduced and the social system have to come to complement these functions. Now, we need public welfare and the basis of the mutual aid as well as a fundamental organization to support familis, in the aging society. I, therefore, clarify the process of what the interdependent relation had grown and how it has changed in farm villages